Seeking Moms with Home Business - or Any One That Has a Business

My daughter is 15, co-captain of her cheer squad, and I am President of the cheer booster club this year. I know exactly what you are doing....

Our club is a business and needs to be run like one.. Guess I got President because my husband and I own and run a consulting/brokering company. We are used to sales, finances and marketing plans.

Our main fundraiser is ad sales for the football program. We raise money for our cheerleader teambuilding activities, training for competition, etc. This is a team effort and if we divide our estimated expenses, it is fair if each girl raises $500 by selling ads, funding the entire amount, or a combination of the 2. A lot of families like the opportunity of fundraising because they are not out so much $$ from the pocket.

This is our 2nd year with this school and being involved with the program. Not many home based businesses will advertise in the football program becuase a lot of those truly are word of mouth or repeat customers. I believe our last program had a couple of Mary Kay ads and those were moms of daughters in the cheer program.

Our ads are $100-$500. Here is what WE do. Make sure your daughter is involved in the selling. WE call on people we do business with, our favorite nail salon, hair salon, car dealer, dentist, dry cleaner, flower shop, etc,,,, you get the gist. Think about high schoolers, high school parents and target that audience when you are looking for ads. EX: a lot of the 16 yr olds are getting cars, the boys especially are into keeping them looking great.... car detail shops, car wash detail places are a good spot to check out.

We also drop ad pricing and sell personal ads from $25-$200. This gives parents an opportunity to buy an ad saying "Good Job Johnny" or "We are Proud of you Susie" and have a picture of their child in that ad. Grandparents have placed ads for football players, etc.

Our program has the football team, band, dancers and cheerleaders. GO find the booster club for each of those, give them a percentage of the $$ if they sell ads to someone. Sell personal ads to them.

I carry a sample program and paperwork for the ads with me all the time. If I have an opportunity to drop something off to a place of business that might be interested , I do it.

Another thing we do is have a group of girls 3-4 in cheer uniforms, go visit businesses and tell them about the fundraiser and why they are doing it. We've found that although some businesses the girls call on do not place an ad, they do make a donation :)

I have 1 high end shopping center close by that bought an ad from me and they are in need of volunteers for activities they sponsor during the summer. Each time our group volunteers for them, they give us a donation to our fund.

Think outside the box.....

I hope you at least got a couple of ideas here.

I wouldn't say home based businesses but usually smaller, community businesses seem willing to give the most in my experience. Bigger businesses have to go through their corporate office for approval, etc. Check with local chiropractors, dentists, independent gyms, and other local businesses!

I agree with T. J. I have a home based business and advertising has never worked. It works through relationships.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to do this... You need to go to local community businesses and ask. Most businesses expect to be asked since this happens every year. You may want to go to businesses that are mom and pop operations like the barbershops, hair dressers, local restaurants, banks, etc.
YMMV
LBC